The present invention relates to a freely programmable position indication apparatus especially but not exclusively for valves, such as diaphragm valves or the like, and including a movable adjusting member.
To date, limit switches are used for position indication, in particular in valves, such as diaphragm valves or the like, whereby the limit are mechanically interact with the adjusting member for defining the ON and OFF positions during movement of the adjusting member. Thus, a purely mechanical detection of the respective end positions of the adjusting member is realized. There are applications, however, in which the switching positions may change in dependence on the travel path of the adjusting member. An example is a diaphragm valve in which the diaphragm has a certain inherent elasticity that may vary in dependence on the material. It may also be desired to trigger certain control sequences at intermediate positions of the travel path of the adjusting member.